Backbytes: Doom for Canon printers!

Internet-connected Canon Pixma printers cracked by security company - and modified to play Doom

We've no idea who "Context Information Security" is or what they do for a living, but they all seem to have jolly good fun at work.

Their latest jape has been to remotely access the web interface on a popular model of Canon Pixma ink-jet printer, modifying the firmware so that it can run the classic computer game Doom. If our experience of Canon Pixma printers is anything to go by, that will make it a whole lot more useful than in its conventional use.

The researchers claim that they were also able to bang out copy after copy of expensive printing from the compromised device and, they say, could even have uploaded malware to spy on documents being printed and establish a gateway into the printer's network.

The techniques used to compromise the printer were presented at 44Con in London this morning by Mike Jordon, head of research at Context. If you want to find out more, they've also gone to the trouble of publishing a blog post, along with a video, both published today.

The company claims that it has also hacked a number of other Internet of Things devices - including a smart light bulb, digital camera, network attached storage devices and even a child's internet rabbit toy.

Well, that's one way of getting yourself noticed.

Canon was informed of the security flaws in March. In a statement, the company said: "We intend to provide a fix as quickly as is feasible. All Pixma products launching from now onwards will have a username/password added to the Pixma web interface, and models launched from the second half of 2013 onwards will also receive this update, models launched prior to this time are unaffected. This action will resolve the issue uncovered by Context."